a difficult tour of northern Angola

I’d booked back-to-back tours with the same company of both south and north Angola, and after enjoying the south so much, I was really looking forward to the northern tour.  Particularly as the Catalan speakers who’d dominated the tour group in the south were not on the northern tour!  A long-time friend was joining me, and I’d recently discovered that two other travellers who I’d met and got on well with in Niger some five years ago were also joining us, so my mood was very good.

But it was going to be a difficult two weeks, and there was some hint of this on the very first day, when we arrived at our hotel in Dundo to find that it was full.  Our tour company had reserved the necessary rooms – and paid for them – but apparently the booking was cancelled because they did not ‘re-confirm’ it after paying!  Thankfully they found us another place to stay, but to the surprise of most of us we returned to our cancelled hotel to eat lunch in their restaurant.  Or at least, to order lunch, as some two hours after placing our orders they had not yet even started to cook … so we went elsewhere.  & then returned to the original place for dinner!!  Until pressure from the group that this place should not take our money nor any more of our time led to a trip to a corner shop for people to buy something to eat...

The itinerary for the next day said that we would “meet the local chief and group of elders … and learn about the local culture and how things have changed after the arrival of the Portuguese colonisers and the discovery of diamonds in the hills around the area” – but the delays of the previous day meant that our museum visit had been pushed back to this morning, so that meeting never happened.

However, this day was still very good, as we got to see the Makishi masks of the Tchokwe people performing – firstly in a performance put on for our benefit, but then in a performance at a mukanda ceremony in a nearby village.  The mukanda is the initiation of boys into adulthood; each mask represents the spirit of a deceased ancestor, and their role in the mukanda is to protect, teach, and if necessary discipline the initiates, with the different masks having different responsibilities.  I think what we saw was the public graduation ceremony when the young men complete their initiation and re-enter the community as adults – a ceremony that includes dances by the Makishi masks.

The next day we didn’t meet a traditional village king, nor did we get a tour of the colonial centre of Luau, both in the itinerary, but we had a full day of driving, along very dusty roads.  & a lot more driving the next day too … but eventually we reached Cazombo, and it was well worth the long journey!  Another mukanda was happening, plus – not sure whether or not this was linked to the mukanda – Queen Nhakatolo Ngambo of the Luvale kingdom was holding a public audience.

Makishi masks and drummers began to arrive, as many hundreds of local people filed into the square where her audience was to take place.  We admired the masks and took lots of photos, before taking our places in the big square, just before the arrival of the Queen.

She came in accompanied by her official drummer and her security guards, and took her place on her throne.  Then it was the turn of a number of representatives of different groups to take the microphone and speak.  I wish I could have understood all that they were saying, but I was told that they were voicing their complaints about their economic situation - and quite passionately!  The Queen listened and gave her response, apparently saying that she would relay their concerns to the government of the country.

We did get a private audience with the Queen later, but she would not take our questions as apparently we were not appropriately dressed!  Perhaps that was why no-one except me took the opportunity the next evening, after another long and dusty drive to Saurimo, to accompany our guide for an audience with the Tchokwe King, whose kingdom covers parts of Angola, Zambia and the DRC.  They missed out … not only was he dressed in his royal attire but he gave us the opportunity to ask him (and his wife the Queen) any questions we wished to.

There was no time for the tour of the old colonial quarter of Saurimo, per the itinerary, but to me it had been a good day!

A flight back to Luanda the next morning was followed by an afternoon visit to the slavery museum and the craft market - oh my goodness, such amazing masks on sale.  Sometimes it is frustrating not to be able to buy souvenirs, but I just have to accept that as one of the very few downsides of this amazing travelling life that I love so much.

& then on to part two of this tour - the north of the country.  A long drive up the coast, with a stop to see the town of Ambriz (with its old fortress, slave-holding area and fish market), before arriving in Soyo, located at the mouth of the River Congo.  The next morning we saw the stone cross in Padrao Sao Jorge – the place where the Portuguese sailor Diogo Cão made his landing in 1482 – nothing exciting visually, but very significant as he and his crew were the first Europeans to cross the equator and set foot in the southern hemisphere.  Then we continued in our small wooden boat to follow their route along the River Congo to the town of Noqui.  This river trip was supposed to take two hours, but by the time we had gone through the many security checks at the start (the border police there are not used to seeing tourists) it was more like five hours.  So we didn’t do the small tour of this town, but set off straight away along the long road to Mbanza Kongo.  Apparently the ‘rugged terrain’ (per our itinerary) was scenic, but we didn’t get to see it as the majority of this drive was done in the dark, with our eventual arrival at 2am!

In Mbanza Kongo we got to meet another local ruler – no longer allowed to call himself king, but the ‘grand chief’ and spiritual leader of the Kongo people.  He and his courtiers received us at the Museum of the Kings of Kongo, gave us a traditional welcome drink, and then we followed them past the remains of Kulumbimbi (the Cathedral of the Holy Saviour – the first Christian church in the southern hemisphere and a UNESCO World Heritage site) and watched whilst they performed a ceremony paying tribute to his ancestors at the Cemetery of the Kings of Kongo.

We then went to the nearby village of Mbanza Mazina to see a good local music and dance performance. I thought it was a very good day.

The next day we drove to Nzau Evua cave, with its 16th century rock paintings by locals who fled the invading Portuguese.  We had to be taken there by a couple of local chiefs, who performed a ceremony outside the cave before we were allowed in.  After the cave visit they offered to take us down another dirt path to another cave where there were skeletal remains of some who’d died whilst hiding in the cave.  For some reason only two of us accepted the offer, so the other eight people in our group did not see the 450-year-old skull which they took out of the cave for us – and allowed me to hold!!

& so, after a flight back to the capital, the tour ended.  The other members of the group were all complaining that it hadn't delivered what was promised, so the local tour operator turned up, treated us to lunch in the nicest cafe in the capital, and listened to our complaints.  & no, I agree that it was not what was promised in the itinerary - but (1) TIA, and (2) it still delivered a lot, some of which was not in the itinerary.  I realise, however, that days spent just travelling - whether driving along dusty, bumpy roads, or waiting around for border police to take copies of our passports, is 'lost time'.  Such lost time doesn't matter to someone like me, who is retired and travelling long-term with no fixed end date, but if you are working and so only have a few weeks of annual leave then I suppose it is a much bigger deal.  To me, just about everything has a silver lining, and that's what I focus on as I'd rather enjoy the good side of a situation than feel miserable moaning about the bad side.  But if the others succeed in their arguments that we should all get a partial refund ... well ... I shan't moan about that!!